Month: July 2013

After a particularly frustrating staff meeting on Monday, a friend and I decided to go walking around the market. We both like perusing and love the chaos and endless things to look at that is the market. A guy was selling chunks of jackfruit from his wheelbarrow so we got some to munch on. It … Continue reading To Market, To Market

So I pretty much dived in head first here on this new venture. I visited for two days, travelled a bit, came back and basically committed for six months before we’d even really worked out accommodation. I mean, I went to my home in N. Africa sight unseen and was there for two years and still … Continue reading Dorm Life and The Girls

Last night was the first night that I helped with night duty with the girls. The shift is 6-11pm and entails the overseeing of cleaning the compound, watering the garden, getting the girls to get all their washing in, dinner, cleaning up after dinner, and getting 34 girls ages 4-19 to shower and go to … Continue reading Bedtime and News

Well, my first weekend in Juba was far more exciting than I anticipated. On Sunday there was a race sponsored by MTN, one of the largest cell phone and mobile networks here. I and the girls and a few other staff members ran as well. You could run 5k, 10k, or 21k (half-marathon). We all … Continue reading Running the Race (And sometimes winning the prize!)

The flight we took earlier this week was through an oil company who sells any extra seats they have to other folks who want to head there. The small airport is in Paloch, a town about 50 minutes from Melut. We had some hassles originally getting on the flight, but we made it here. As … Continue reading Someone Elses Room

In Melut the people I stayed with work at a small theological college. There were a few pastors visiting the college for a board meeting. They live in the city I used to live in up north so we were chatting away in Arabic and I talked about the centers where I’d worked. One of … Continue reading Connections

The last few days I’ve spent in Melut, a large village along the Nile where there is a small theological college. I was looking at a project with orphans and a school there. I was also able to visit with some friends I knew in my desert home. They studied Arabic at the same school … Continue reading Independence Day

On Thursday I travelled in a jam packed car for the 100ish-mile trek on a well travelled dirt road from Juba to Yei. It took about 4.5 bumpy hours. It was a beautiful drive. Teak forests and mahogany trees, school children walking, ladies with yellow jerry cans perfectly balanced on their heads. High grasses, sacred-looking … Continue reading Maybe Someday

I am currently in South Sudan. Was in Juba, the capital, for a few days and now I am doing a bit of travelling outside the city. In many ways it is very different from my previous home in N. Africa, but not different enough for it to feel completely foreign. And, I have noticed, … Continue reading First Nights in the South

Hello, hello. Back in Africa! I am safe and sound in South Sudan now, though the place I am staying for the next few days would have petrefied me 2 years ago. But that is a story for another time! I will be doing a good deal of travelling in the next couple of weeks. … Continue reading Here